Chapter 10: Unforeseen Jealousy

Later that morning, Luke and Lorelai went in for their shifts, unable to hide the bright smile on each of their faces. Between dwelling on the couple's professions of love and remembering the activities that followed, Lorelai found it difficult to focus on anything but the scenes playing out in her head.

"Lorelai… LORELAI!"

Startled, Lorelai jumped slightly, "Huh, uh sorry Sookie. What's up?"

Laughing at Lorelai's obliviousness, Sookie exclaimed, "I think I'm the one who should be asking you that… I've been trying to get your attention for the last few minutes! You've just been standing in the doorway with a lost look on your face… Where did you go?"

"Oh," Lorelai blushed and smiled, embarrassed at being caught day dreaming, "I was just thinking about the amazing date I had last night."

"So I'd take your smile as a good sign?"

"I'd take it as a great sign…"

"So… did you tell him?"

Avoiding Sookie's gaze, Lorelai nodded bashfully.

"No way!," Sookie squealed, "You told him already? I thought for sure you'd chicken out!"

Before Lorelai could get a word in, Sookie gasped loudly. "Wait! If you said it, oh my gosh, that means you did it! How was it!? Was it good!? Doesn't he have a single bed… how did that work!?"

"Sook, take a breath," Lorelai laughed, "One thing at a time."

"Aw, Lorelai. I'm sorry; I'm just so damn happy for you!"

"Thanks… and to answer some of your many questions, yes we said it…" ducking her head, she continued, "and amazing does doesn't even cover it."

"Ah! Was it on the kitchen table? I've always imagined it would be!"

Giggling at Sookie's theory, Lorelai answered, "No Sook, it wasn't on the table…and I'm not so sure Luke would want me to divulge any details."

"Oh please, I know he wouldn't want you to," Sookie grinned, "but I know you will."

"I don't know if I'll tell you everything…" leaning in closer, Lorelai lowered her voice, "But let me tell you…You'd be surprised at what Luke Danes can do with such a small amount of space… and nothing is lacking, if you know what I mean."

Unlike the good time Lorelai was having at the inn, Luke had a difficult time maintaining his happiness.

"Do you really have to sit right here at the counter, Kirk?"

"Yes, Luke. This is the best seat in the house, and the only time it is available is when you are closed or when Lorelai is not here."

"That's because its Lorelai's stool… Now move. She and Rory will be here soon."

"Actually, Luke, speaking of Lorelai, I was hoping you could do something for me."

Ignoring Kirk, Luke walked around the counter and began to visit customers for refills. Much to his dismay, Kirk followed.

"Luke, I was wondering what I would have to do in order to stay in the diner for extra time after it closes. On mother's bingo nights, I don't like being home by myself, so I hoped I could be here."

"And why the hell would I allow you to do that? Closed means closed," Luke replied forcefully. The last thing he wanted to do was spend more time with Kirk than he had to.

"But Luke, you let Lorelai do it all the time! In fact, I saw her come in here last night 45 minutes after closing, and she didn't leave until this morning. I saw her coming out of the alley on the way here."

A blush filled Luke's face as he hoped that other, less sheltered customers didn't hear how Lorelai had spent the night. "Drop it Kirk," he replied heatedly, "You are not allowed her after closing. Leave me alone or I will kick your ass out the door!"

Unwilling to be deterred, Kirk pressed on, "Why does Lorelai get special privileges? I love your food as much as she does!"

From the corner of the diner, Babette decided to chime in, causing Luke to grow frustrated and even more embarrassed. "I hate to break it to ya Kirk, but Lorelai wasn't here last night for the food… if you know what I mean!"

"Aw jeez." Hoping to end the conversation, Luke began to head back into the kitchen.

At the most inopportune moment, Lorelai made her way into the diner with Rory, and the patrons of the diner immediately grew silent, waiting to see what would unfold.

"Oh Luke! Your Gilmore girls have arrived for their nightly feast!"

Before Luke could reply, Kirk jumped in. "Ah, Lorelai! Just in time… I was hoping I could…"

"Leave her alone Kirk," Luke quickly interjected.

"But Luke! It's not fair that Lorelai can spend the night here but no one else can! That's unfair business practice!"

"That's it!" Without hesitation, Luke stomped over, grabbed Kirk by his shirt, and swung open the diner door, "Get out Kirk!"

As Kirk stumbled out onto the sidewalk, Luke turned back to meet a confused Lorelai, and even more confused Rory. "Uhh, I'm just gonna go sit down and read now," Rory spoke, quickly turning to the counter and climbing on the stool.

"Luke… What just happened," Lorelai questioned carefully, knowing Luke was agitated by something that clearly occurred before she got there.

Cracking up from the corner of the room, Babette interjected, "Oh Lorelai, apparently, Kirk saw you and Luke here last night after closin', and he said you didn't leave until this mornin'! Now he wants Luke to give him special privileges too!"

Smacking her hand on her forehead, Lorelai's face laughed in disbelief, "Oh my gosh, babe… that is so creepy. Remind me to close the blinds next time."

Turning to go back to the kitchen, Luke mumbled under his breath, "If there is a next time."

Despite his best attempt to hide it, Lorelai heard his mumbled remark. Pulling him back by the hem of his shirt, she whispered in Luke's ear, "We either do it here or not at all. Your choice."

His groan of acknowledgement caused Lorelai to laugh as he sulked back into the kitchen. "That's what I thought."

Rather than having her nose in a book, Rory sat at the counter with her arms crossed and a big pout. Knowing Rory was perfectly content when they arrived, Lorelai assumed that something said between Luke and Kirk must have upset her.

"Hey kid, you okay?" That's quite the pout you've got going on."

"I'm mad at you."

Lorelai's brow furrowed, as she was confused about what she could have possibly have done. Prodding gently, she asked, "Hon, why are you mad at me?"

"Because you spend the night with Daddy Luke."

"Uhh… okay. And that makes you mad because…?"

"Mommy, you spent the night without me!"

"Ohhhh…" Trying not to laugh at the aggravated expression that appeared on Rory's face, Lorelai placed a comforting hand on Rory's leg. "Well, Rory, you were over at Lane's, so I had no one to hang out with. I thought that since you were having a sleep over, I could have one with Luke."

"But… fine. I guess that makes sense," Rory mumbled unhappily. Before Lorelai could change the subject, Rory continued, "But it's still not fair. When do I get a sleepover with him?

"I don't know hon. I didn't know you wanted to have one."

Noticing the possibility of a deep conversation from the kitchen doorway, Luke approached hesitantly and placed coffee and their meals on the counter. "Need anything else?"

"Actually, Luke, Rory has a question for you."

"Alright." While turning to Rory, his demeanor immediately softens, which does not go unnoticed by Lorelai. "What can I do for you Rory?"

"Ummm…" she replied softly, avoiding Luke's glance.

"Hey, what's with the shyness? You know you can ask me anything."

"Okay… are you busy tonight?"

Caught off guard, Luke prodded curiously. "Uh, no. But it sounds like you're asking me on a date," he teased, "Why do you ask?"

"I'm not asking you on a date Daddy Luke," Rory giggled. "That's silly! I was wondering if mommy and I could have a sleep over with you tonight? I know we kind of had one when we went to the cabin, but I went to bed before we could actually do anything fun… and I know mommy was just here last night, but I wanted to have one with the both of you."

A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "You don't have to convince me. A sleep over sounds great, Rory… assuming your mommy is okay with it," he answered, shifting his eyes to Lorelai.

Unable to hide her happiness, Rory asked anxiously, "Does that sound good to you, Mommy?"

Shooting Luke an appreciative look, she reached over the counter and grabbed his hand. "Sure. It sounds like fun. I love to spend time with my two favorite people."

"Yay! Thanks Mommy!"

"Alright, so it's settled. How about this," Luke questioned, "I have to close tonight, so I'll be done in around two hours. What do you say to you and your mom going home and getting your stuff while I finish up?"

Grabbing Lorelai's hand, Rory was ready to dash to the jeep. "Okay! Come on Mommy! Let's go!"

Laughing at her eagerness, Lorelai stopped Rory from hopping of the stool. "Shouldn't we eat our food first, Rory?"

"Oh yeah," Rory replied, ducking her head in embarrassment, "I guess we can do that. Thanks for the food and the sleepover Daddy Luke."

"No problem, Rory."

Rory all but sprinted to the curtain and up the stairs when she and Lorelai arrived back at the diner.

While chuckling at Rory's anxiousness, Luke met Lorelai at the counter. "Well, someone seems excited to be here."

"You have no idea," Lorelai answered, leaning over the counter for a kiss. "Before we left the inn, she had to run in and tell Mia and Sookie all about how she was getting to spend the night with you tonight."

Unable to contain his grin, Luke responded blushingly, "I'm glad she's happy."

"I have to thank you, though, Luke. I really mean it. You really didn't have to let us come over."

"It's no big deal. I love spending time with the both of you, and you know I'd do anything for her."

Walking around the counter, she snaked her arms around his waist and leaned against his chest. "And that's one of the many reasons why I love you." Pulling him down to her, she kissed him as deeply as he would allow in public, hoping he understood just how much his love for Rory meant to her. Moving apart, she spoke happily, "Alright, I won't keep you any longer, but get your cute butt in gear, and get this thing shut down. I'll see you in a bit."

Opening the door to Luke's apartment, Lorelai exclaimed, "Alright kid! Let's get this party started!" Much to her confusion, Rory stood in middle of the room with an inquisitive look on her face. "You okay, Rory?"

"Oh, yeah. I was just wondering where to put my stuff. Where are we sleeping?"

"Um, I'm not sure. I'd have to ask Luke."

'Well, where did you sleep last night?"

A slight blush tinged Lorelai's cheeks. "Well, hon, I slept on the bed."

"Oh… Did you share a bed? Lane and I always sleep on her bed when I spend the night."

Before Lorelai could create an answer appropriate for little ears to hear, Rory continued, "Actually, that's a silly question! Luke's bed is too small. You guys would have had to have slept on top of each other to fit! He would have had to have slept on the couch."

It was times like this that Lorelai was thankful for her daughter's logical mind and innocence. A smirk tugged at the corners of her mouth as she replied, "Exactly hon. His bed is too small. He slept on the couch."

"Well, that was very nice of him to give up his bed for you." Deciding to set her stuff down beside the couch. Much to Lorelai's approval, she decided to change the subject. "Do you wanna play Go Fish until he comes up here?"

"You know what, I think that's a great idea. I'll get the cards."

After what felt like an eternal shift, Luke stumbled up the stairs. Opening the door, he found Lorelai and Rory on the floor, still playing cards.

"Mommy! You said you didn't have any 2's just a minute ago! You're such a liar!"

Gasping with fake offense, Lorelai replied dramatically, "Rory! Why would you think that I, Lorelai Gilmore, the most honest women in the world, would ever do such a thing?"

Rolling her eyes at her mother's antics, Rory answered, "Oh please! You're crazy! You have had that 2 the whole game, but you just didn't want to give it to me, and you know it!"

"You're rolling your eyes and calling me crazy… hon, it sounds like you have been spending too much time with Daddy Luke."

Hearing Lorelai use Rory's name for him caused a wide grin to spread across Luke's face. Deciding to make his presence known, Luke interjected, "She's right you know. You are crazy… Her becoming like me may not be such a bad thing, though. If I'm lucky, she'll pick up my eating habits so she can make it to the age of 40."

Jumping up at the sound of his voice, Lorelai scrambled over to him and placed a quick kiss on his cheek. "You know, that's not very likely, babe, but it's nice that you think you have that much influence over us. If it helps, I did drink one less cup of coffee today."

"I guess I'll take that," he replied, bringing her in with a lingering kiss and wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Mmmmm...But you should know that the only reason I've had less coffee is because instead of giving me coffee, Sookie made ice cream sundaes for Rory and me before we came here."

"You're insane."

"But you love me," She spoke softly while grinning widely.

"Heaven help me, I do."

Breaking their trance, Rory loudly added, "Sookie made mommy a coffee flavored sundae, don't let her fool you! She made me a mint chocolate chip one, though! It was really good!"

Having forgotten for a moment that Rory was in the room, Luke quickly removed his arms from around Lorelai's waist and cleared his throat. "Uh, it sounds like it would be… So, I'm done. What should we do, Rory? This sleepover is all about you."

"Well, what did you and mommy do at your sleepover last night?"

Luke's face grew red as Lorelai tried to hide her amusement at Rory's oblivious questioning. Thinking quickly on her feet, Lorelai responded, "Well, we watched a movie, but we always do that. What is something different that you want to do?"

Directing her attention to Luke, Rory asked, "Is it too late to make cookies? I don't know if you remember, but we talked about making your mom's cookies one time before I got sick. We never did it, though. Can we do that?"

You know, I think that's a pretty good idea. What do you think, Lorelai?"

"As great as that sounds, I'm not much of a cook," she answered, which caused Rory to giggle. "I think I'll just watch you guys make them and then I will test them when you finish."

"Of course you will," he deadpanned, "Although, I think that only people who help should get to eat cookies. Do you agree, Rory?"

"Sorry Daddy Luke, but you and I both know that Mommy would find a way to make you give her some eventually. She can make you do anything."

A small chuckle escaped Luke's lips. "You've definitely got that right kid."

"So baking is just math? This is so easy! Mommy, why can't you do it?"

Luke, happy to stay out of this discussion, watched for Lorelai's response in silence wearing a slight smirk on his face and trying to hide his laughter.

"Well, hon, recipes also involve the actual cooking part. That would tend to be where I mess up."

"But the sheet says heat the oven to 375 degrees and cook for 10 minutes… it tells you how hot and how long. What's so hard about that?"

"Well, someone is a smarty pants tonight," Lorelai mumbled grumpily, "Maybe I'll just leave you here to live with Luke so you can bond over your amazing cooking skills."

Unable to keep from interjecting, Luke added jokingly, "Then how would you ever eat? You would lose all the people who can cook for you."

"Hey," Lorelai exclaimed, shooting a glare Luke's direction, "No comments from the peanut gallery."

Raising his hands in mock surrender, Luke turned back to Rory, and the baking continued, but when Rory moved to hand Luke the bag of flour, it slipped out of her hands, right onto the floor. The contents of the bag exploded, creating a white cloud in the tiny kitchen. As the cloud settled, it cleared to reveal Luke and Rory covered in white dust.

Lorelai burst out laughing at the sight. "Oh my gosh! That's what you both get for being mean to me!"

Taking a look at both Luke and herself, Rory began giggling as well. "Daddy Luke, we look so funny!"

Luke's attempt to act angry failed as he watched the mother and daughter having such a good time. "You know, Rory, I think we look pretty nice, but there's something missing."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, we're standing here covered in flour, but your mom is all clean… I don't think that's fair."

Lorelai's laughing stopped as she took a step back from the kitchen. "Don't even think about it."

Before she could react, Luke lunged for her and captured her waist, effectively causing the flour on him to end up on her as well. This action caused Rory to laugh even louder.

"Luke! This is my good work uniform!"

"I'm sorry," he spoke unconvincingly and placed a quick kiss on her cheek, "I didn't think it was fair that you weren't getting to enjoy the mess."

"Well, you definitely got my clothes dirty… these better be some damn good cookies," she grumbled.

"Don't worry, Mommy! They will be," Rory said happily as she ran and wrapped her arms around the both of them, "I'm having a lot of fun. Thanks for having a sleepover with me! You guys are the best!"

Soon after the cookies finished, Rory crashed on the bed, leaving Luke and Lorelai some time for themselves.

"You know, I think you guys did a pretty good job on these cookies, but I think I need to have a few more before I can make my official judgement."

Rolling his eyes, Luke responded, "You've already had seven… I'm surprised you're not in a sugar coma."

"Oh come on… they're really good! Here, eat one."

Much to Luke's displeasure, Lorelai shoved a cookie his direction, but he was able to avoid it. Moving out of the way, Luke warned, "Don't even try. Do you remember what happened last time you tried to force feed me something?"

Eating the rest of her eighth cookie, Lorelai stepped towards him. "Of course. I'm pretty sure that's how we ended up in this situation."

Not really trying to stop her advances, Luke spoke unconvincingly, "Lorelai, Rory is right there. We can't."

Grabbing a hold of his t-shirt, Lorelai pulled him to her and whispered, "Exactly. She's right there, so you'll have to be quiet."

Before he could respond, he found her lips on his, but he did nothing to stop it. Breaking apart for air, Luke grimaced. "You taste like chocolate. I hate chocolate."

"Too bad... You'll just have to deal with it," she smirked

"I guess, if I have to," he answered teasingly, " Maybe I can suffer through it."

Wrapping her arms around his waist, Lorelai looked up adoringly. "This has been fun. It's so great to see Rory this happy. She really loves you, you know."

"I think I picked up on that… I love her too."

Rather than responding, Lorelai nuzzled into his neck and allowed silence to fall. This silence did not last long, however, as it was broken by the sound of Lorelai's muffled laughter.

"What's so funny," Luke asked, slightly confused.

"I just remembered that totally forgot to tell you about what Rory did when we got here tonight."

"Should I be worried?"

"Worried, no, but if you had been here, you probably would have reached a record number of shades of red."

"Aw, jeez, what happened?"

"Well, she didn't know where to put her stuff because she didn't know where she was sleeping, so she asked me where I slept when I was here last night."

"And what did you say," Luke answered hesitantly, hoping this conversation wasn't going to go where he thought it would.

"Welll, I told her that I slept on the bed… but then she asked were you slept."

"Please tell me you said I slept on the couch," Luke winced slightly as he spoke.

Laughing at his reaction, Lorelai responded happily, "Eventually I did, but she also worked it out herself. She said, and I quote, "Luke's bed is too small! You guys would have had to have slept on top of each other to fit. He would have had to have slept on the couch."

"Oh my gosh." Luke buried his face in her neck, trying to stifle his laugh.

"Be thankful for the innocence of a five-year-old, babe."

"Believe me, I am. She's one hell of a kid."

As much as she tried, Lorelai was unable to conceal her yawn, and this didn't go unnoticed by Luke. "Are you ready to go to sleep, Lorelai?"

"I'm not tired, I promise." Much to her dismay, her façade was broken by another yawn.

A slight grin spread across Luke's face. "Oh really, is that why you have yawned twice in the last thirty seconds?"

"Luke, I promise, I am not tired. We so rarely get to spend time talking without Rory around. I want to make good use of our time." Before she could finish her defense, she was interrupted by another yawn. "What the hell is my problem," she laughed, "I've never yawned this much in my life!"

Pulling her to him, Luke placed a kiss on the top of Lorelai's head. "It's fine. You're tired; I know it. Let's go to bed, and we'll talk tomorrow."

Groaning, she removed herself from his arms. "Fine, but I am only doing this because you said to. I am honestly not tired." Reaching up to kiss him, she whispered, "I love you, goodnight."

"Yeah, whatever… I love you too. I'll have coffee ready for when you get up."

"Thanks Luke, you're the best." Climbing in behind Rory, Lorelai settled in comfortably, knowing that this was one of the most memorable nights of Rory's life, and for that, she was thankful.